7. Snow
Chapter seven
Snow
“I’m sorry…”
I gasp awake, darting my eyes around quickly as I search for something familiar.
That voice. Where had it come from?
And where am I?
I’m not at the mansion anymore. These four walls are foreign, slowly closing me in on all sides, and that’s when the panic starts to sink its deadly claws in.
It’s okay, Snow. It’s fine. It’s just a bad dream. You are safe.
It's my mother’s voice who speaks those reassuring words. It was the same way she used to reassure me when I was little, when the night terrors would wreak havoc on my young, fragile mind.
Even though Daddy kept me away from the inner workings of his world, it still had a way of finding me in my nightmares.
But out here, in the real world…
The monsters want to hurt me.
Just like Ferdinand. The worst monster of all.
Ferdinand. I hurt him…
I still have his blood on my hands, and I squeeze my eyes, trying to focus on my mother’s voice as she whispers to me in the dark.
Lilith Snow did always have a lovely voice. I still recall the way she used to rock and sing me to sleep, so now I focus on her soft lullaby, fighting back tears.
“There’s no one left in this world who loves you…”
Ferdinand invades my mind, erasing my mother’s sweet singing voice, and I push him out, trying to focus on my mother.
Even though she has been gone for many years, I still see her face, hear her voice like it was yesterday.
Daddy’s face hasn’t left me, either.
But when I remember him now, all I see is the sadness. The weight of what he had to do in order to keep me safe.
The people he had to kill…
I lose myself in my memories, too afraid to open my eyes and find myself in that strange room again.
It all slowly comes back to me. After I knocked out Ferdinand with a rock, potentially killing him, I was caught.
All I remember is that single ice-blue eye, and I could have sworn it was the eye of an angel—an avenging angel hellbent on vanquishing me.
No, he had been the Angel of Death.
I must be dead right now. That’s the only explanation.
But if that were the case, then where are my parents?
Mama would have gone to heaven. Daddy, however… he would have had a first-class ticket to hell.
No, no, no… I am not dead. And my parents are together again. My father was redeemed of his sins the moment his soul ascended into heaven, and now he has finally found peace.
I have to believe that.
Even though he was a bad man, he was still my father.
Still the man who loved, nurtured, and protected me.
The floor vibrates, and I curl up on the rock-hard bed, the one devoid of blankets, as I shiver.
When a door unlatches somewhere beyond, I ball up further, hoping and praying that this is a nightmare after all, and I will wake in my bed at the mansion.
It may be Regina’s mansion now, but it’s still home. Still familiar.
This place is cold.
The door unlocks, and then a set of ominous footsteps enters the room. I lay still as a possum, hoping that playing dead will convince them that I am not worth a second glance.
They do nothing but stare, and all the while, I sense that lone eye.
I remember now; he wore an eyepatch. Like a pirate.
Have I been kidnapped by an avenging pirate?
He knows I’m awake; there’s no missing the way I tremble on the bare mattress.
Slowly, he steps closer, and he barely draws breath.
What manner of creature is he?
When something soft drapes over my body, I jump, scrambling away as far as the bed will allow, finally meeting that blue eye.
It flares upon a face of porcelain white, and I have never seen skin so fair…
And they call me Snow White.
This man—not creature after all—has shining, translucent skin, and even under the harsh fluorescent lighting, he still shines like some ethereal god.
Barely a mark on that perfect skin.
The only blemish I can see is the dark eyepatch. The one strapped around the back of a head of hair as fair as his skin.
Maybe he isn’t a man after all. But some magical creature from another land.
A fae perhaps.
We’re silent, as neither one of us speaks for some time.
He certainly is a stark contrast to his dark coat and black leather boots. A perfect balance of light and dark.
He's not much of a talker. That much I can ascertain.
Instead, he just stares at me with that single blue eye. I wonder what happened to the other?
Did he get into an accident?
It must have hurt.
I’m afraid to look away from him. Any moment, I expect him to attack. Yet he merely leans against the wall, one booted foot propped up as he crosses his arms.
Finally, I find my voice. “Who are you?”
Nothing. He doesn’t react to my question, but his eye flashes slightly at the sound of my voice.
It's like he brought a winter chill with him as I shudder on the bed, wrapping my arms around myself, and that’s when I gaze down at the blanket.
He placed a blanket over me…
Is he trying to comfort me? Tell me I can trust him? Even though he was the one who knocked me unconscious and kidnapped me?
Who knows, but the blanket is a stark contrast to the frosty man before me. The one who just likes to stare endlessly. I would hate to go head-to-head with him in a staring contest.
He hasn’t blinked once.
Maybe he isn’t human after all.
So, I try again, hoping he will answer me this time. “Please, just… tell me who you are… Why have you brought me here?”
Again, he gives me nothing. Just more endless staring and silence.
He resembles a statue in that moment, and he certainly looks as if he was sculpted by Micheal Angelo himself.
Aquiline nose, sharp cheekbones, carved lips…
Lips perfect for kissing.
Honestly, he’s beautiful. One of the most beautiful men I have seen.
As pretty as he is, I still find his silence unnerving.
It's time to demand an answer.
“Hey, I asked you a question. Why have you brought me here? What do you want with me?”
Nothing yet again, but that icy eye does narrow when I project my voice.
When I rise to my feet, it shines yet again, and there’s no missing the anticipation.
It’s almost like he wants me to bite.
Did he come here to goad me? To test me, perhaps?
Did I pass his assessment?”
Who cares? If he isn’t going to respond to me, then I will force my answers from him.
I step closer until we’re inches apart, jabbing a finger at his shoulder. “Hey, it’s rude to ignore people. I’ve asked you twice now, sir. Who are you? And why have you brought me here?”
I may be a trick of the light, but his sculpted mouth quirks at the corner, and I lose my temper.
I push his chest, yet he barely budges. His mouth continues to curve, and now I know he’s smiling at me.
Though it’s more of a smirk.
What a brute. He’s messing with me.
“I demand to know why you drugged and kidnapped me! Who are you? Tell me!”
I grip his coat, but the frozen statue hardly flinches, and I really am weak by comparison.
I was a fool to think I could survive on my own out here. Because I know what kind of man he is. He’s a monster, just like Daddy was.
A man of so-called honor…
One bound by code.
Could he be one of the enemies Daddy worried about? The ones he sheltered me from my whole life?
I don’t care; I don’t care if he is the very devil himself, he brought me here against my will, and I am going to find out why.
To get back at my father? Too late there.
The man is already dead.
“Tell me, now! Tell me who you are and why you have brought me here!”
I’m gripping the lapels of his long coat now, but he’s still stalwart. Still frozen as his smirk soon turns into a beaming grin.
A psychotic grin.
I stumble away from him when I see the madman in his eyes, and once again, he is the Angel of Death.
He backs me up to the bed, and I stumble onto the mattress, slipping under the blanket he so kindly gave me.
Soon, he has me cornered, caging me in as he places both hands on the walls, and I truly am trapped.
That glacial eye cuts straight through me, probing deep into my soul, and I can’t look away.
This man is dangerous. I would be wise not to lay a finger on him again.
Yet, why do I have the sudden urge to reach across and stroke his soft skin with my finger?
His skin is pore less. Truly immaculate.
That carved mouth tilts with another smirk, and I’m pretty sure he can hear my heart beating.
But as terrifying and beautiful as he is, he’s still human. Nothing more.
Just an impossibly dangerous one.
Before I do something I regret, like reaching across to touch his alabaster cheek, I throw the blanket over his head, and that glacial eye vanishes.
Now, the only sound that follows is my rapid breaths. They echo off the walls, reminding me of how helpless I am.
Quietly, he lifts his hand up, removing the blanket from his face, and that blue eye finds me again.
Unyielding as ever, but I did manage to mess up his perfect blond hair with the blanket.
His eyes flash, and then to my horror, he leans forward, smelling my hair.
What in the…?
Then his pupil swells as he looks straight into my eyes again, and I have no idea what comes over him next.
It's like my scent has triggered him somehow, and he really is a maniac.
Then, with a final grin, one in which he shows me all his shining white teeth, he whirls away, sweeping toward the door.
And just like that, he’s gone.
I don’t breathe for some time, too stunned to move.
What on earth just happened? Why did he sniff my hair?
With a shudder, I toss the blanket over my head then face the wall, hoping he doesn’t come back any time soon.
He really is insane.
Daddy was right; this world really is full of monsters